"All I'm saying is that we shouldn't go directly to the Platinum Dragon lord Immediately after finding this out!"
Ever since the twins had left the room, the atmosphere between the three friends had gradually been growing more and more. What once started as a calm exchange of ideas had now become something of a intense debate do to the differences in the opinions of the members.
Though each shared the same goal, the way the went about reaching that goal differed based on their personalities. This was not new however, as the same arguments took place almost daily whenever a guild assignment was set. Everyone would have differing opinions on how to handle certain quest. This was simply a natural part of being in a guild.
Therefore, even though Ainz saw these two frenemies clash their ideals into each other in the form of their spat, he said nothing. This had occurred many times back in YGGDRASIL, and thus the best way to end it would be to wait for both sides to give there arguments, then reach a consensus when they were exhausted.
Plus when the others get back, we can just get their opinions as well.
However, whether they would agree with one of the sides point or only bring in another side in this battle remained to be seen.
"Why not Touch-san? Were clearly much stronger than him, and we have the numbers on our side. What's one 90-ish magic tank to all of Nazarick?"
"I think you've forgotten that our opponent has world class items at their disposal. Even if he was level 10, Someone wielding [World Savior] could decimate all of us! So why are you being so rash about this when we have so little information!"
"Come on, how likely is it that they can use the equivalent of [World Savior]?"
"I'm saying to be cautious precisely because we don't know that!"
As both sides refused to back down, Ainz continued to merely observe. Frankly, if given the choice. He would side with Touch me on being more cautious to their opponent as opposed to going in guns blazing. Though he understood where Ulbert was coming from, there were still a huge amount of unknown variables at play.
For starters, it was still unclear on what limits their were to wild magic. They hardly knew what it was at all other then the fact that it could rival world class items. But that wasn't to say they were completely in the dark either.
From Pandora's actor's mock battle with him, they had gotten a general outline of his capabilities, and it would seem he was of no threat if one were to only factor in his combative abilities. It would seem that he was roughly on par with a unenhanced doomlord. Therefore if one disregarded his magic, he would be a rather poultry opponent.
Yet when potentially so much of his panoply was unknown, it was hard for Ainz to give the green light.
Not to mention he was a member of the council state. If the information we have been given is correct, then that potentially means we could be dealing with 5 or even 7 Dragon lords on his level. That being the case, we should move forward assuming the worst case scenario of them having enough power to rival even the strongest of the world class items.
It was always better to prepare for something and have it not be true than to be caught by surprise after all. Even if they only possessed as much power as the current Dragon lord that they knew of, the only thing they would lose is time.
Well, we should wait for the others before anything is definitively stated. I don't want to force my...
"What do you think Momonga-san? Should we attack him now while they still don't expect it?"
"Hm? Ah! So its my turn now? Honestly..."
Though he was preparing himself to give his side as he knew he would be called upon eventually, they had still managed to catch him unawares.
"Well, if you want my thoughts then I don't think either of you are wrong, but I find myself mostly agreeing with Touch-san."
After hearing his declaration, Ulbert merely turned his head to the side to show his reluctance. Touch-Me on the other hand seemed to be emanating an aura of superiority. Even with his helmet and insect face, anyone could see the smug smile that was directed towards Ulbert.
"That said, I don't think your entirely wrong Ulbert. Its true that we could more than likely overwhelm him with our numbers and strength, but I don't want to agree with such methods when we still lack so much information. Their full capabilities, their numbers, and even their items. Believe me, I want to attack them as much as you, maybe even more so, but we can't just charge in and risk losing everything."
I don't want the Shalltear incident to repeat itself. Especially not when its them...
While it was bad enough to have one of his friends children taken, what would happen if they themselves found themselves being taken? if of them ends up mind controlled and they were forced to kill them, what then? If they were unable to be revived, then how would he cope?
No. that won't happen.
It would simply be impossible for them to achieve that. He would not let them. He would design as many counter-measures as needed.
"Besides, we still need to wait for BukuBukuChagama-san and Peroroncino-san to come back before we can truly reach a consensus on this. It would be best for us to simply wait before we make any rash decisions."
"Of course Momonga-san, we wouldn't act without them, as were all equals, were just trying to reach a understanding before then."
"Speaking of them, I wonder when they'll be back? Should I [Message] them and tell them to join us?"
"No Ulbert-san, we should give them time to chat and bond with their own creations. I doubt you would have wanted to pull you away form your chat with Demiurge right?"
"Yeah, I see your point."
"Well until then, lets just postpone this debate and just talk until they arrive. I'd really like to know how you all felt about the NPCs."
.
.
.
Around an hour had passed before the rooms entrance finally opened, revealing Peroroncino who had finally finished with his meeting with Shalltear. His posture did not give off the impression of someone who was upset or disappointed, so Ainz could at least gather things had gone well.
"Ah, so you're finally here Peroroncino-san. So how was it?"
"Honestly, she was better than I expected! It was almost like I was just talking to the female version of myself. While it wasn't what I was expecting, I can safely say, She is without a doubt a top-tier waifu!"
"I-I see. Well now that your here, do you know when Chagama-san will be? We've postponed our plans for the future until everyone is here to agree to them. Were deciding on whether we should attack the Platinum Dragon lord or not." It would seem Ulbert was rather eager to move on with their next fight. Ainz had always figured that if he was brought here with him, he would be the battle maniac type. And it would seem that his guess may be proven correct.
"I had messaged her when I left. She should be here in a few minutes." Saying so, he took his seat at the meeting table and leaned back into his chair. "Well it's not like we can't come to a consensus before then."
"We had tried that earlier, but then decided it was best to wait for everyone to be here. Right now were deciding between attacking now or holding off."
"Well if you want my opinion, then I would say we should attack now. It would get the main threat out of the way quickly right?"
"You get it!" Ulbert was quick to support his new comrade in arms. Now that he had backup, he was going to aid him with all his strength to form a stronger argument, leaving Ainz with the impression that this was not going to end quickly.
"Sigh... leave it to the two attackers to be the most impulsive about this. I'm telling you that we should gather more info in order to make sure we don't get slaughtered. Isn't that how we did things in YGGDRASIL?"
"That was your way Touch-san. That ended when Momonga-san took charge, which is why we do these votes."
"You..."
"Alright enough you two, we need to keep things civil." Ainz could sense the change from harmless debate to a heated argument, and quickly quashed it. His words seemed to act as a cold bucket of water to them, as they immediately apologized to him.
"I'm sorry Momonga-san, I shouldn't have brought that up."
"I apologize for getting a bit to heated in my argument."
"You don;t need to apologize, just try to avoid arguing over this stuff until Chagama-san is here.
"What do I need to be here for?" Almost as if on cue, the slime set foot into the meeting of friends, signaling the true start of the debate. "Ah good. Now that your here Chagama-san we can begin planning our next move. Though before that, I have to ask. How do you feel about the twins?" this was the answer that Ainz had been wondering about the most. He truly wanted her to be able to reciprocate the love they felt for her.
"I was right all along. Boy-Girls truly are precious!"
Looks like she's seen the light.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about Chagama-san. They basically are just normal children."
"Oi onee-chan. Weren't you the one 5 minutes ago saying you felt guilty about forcing that on them? Whats with the sudden shift?"
"Well lets leave talk like that for another time. Now that were all here, we can finally begin to discuss what our plans are going to be. Right now we are trying to decide between attacking them immediately, or observing them and attacking later. What is your opinion Chagama-san?"
"Wouldn't the latter be the most obvious choice? We would want to make sure that we have a chance before we attack."
"Right! Well now both sides are equal, so we should be able to agree on something now."
With the final members opinion on the matter being given, the sides were now set.
Ulbert and Pero both wanted to strike immediately.
Touch-Me and Chagama wanted to observe.
And Ainz was left as the neutral party.
"Well when both of our sides are so black and white, how can we agree to anything without completely changing sides."
"Well Majority vote is how we usually handle things anyway, but I do understand what you mean. What about you Momonga-san? You've been here the longest, so can you think of any other ideas?"
"Eh?"
Frankly speaking, even though he had been here years before anyone else, almost everything that had occurred was to advanced for him to understand, or 90% of the details were hidden form him under the assumption that he knew them already. It would not be innacurate to say he was just as lost as when he first came here.
Come on, there has to be something that could work here. Think! What did I do specifically that applied in the kingdoms we conquered. Memory after memory flew through his head in his attempt to pinpoint a situation where Albedo or Demiurge had not been a part of, but none seemed applicable to his current predicament. The only time I actually did something of my own accord was when I cast... Oh!
"Hm, well if you asking me, then why don't we formally declare war on them? If we did that, we could stall at the front lines and use the opportunity to observe there abilities."
"That sounds like a decent enough idea. Almost like a mixture of both sides. But then we would need to focus all our efforts on the country instead of the individual. Providing of course the other councilors aren't already together."
Ainz partially agreed with BukuBukuChagama on this. Though he had been the one to bring the idea up, he didn't have full confidence that it would be the right one to go with.
"Do you think we should intimidate them like I had done with the kingdom? When I had used my super tier spells on the kingdom, it killed over 100,000 people, which caused there morale to plummet to rock bottom. Maybe we could do the same thing there, and that would cause them to lose the will to fight. After that it would be simple.?"
This idea was not without benefits. As that war proved, Intimidation was a very useful tactic in war. Even more so when you outclassed your opponent so heavily that they could not even imagine you losing.
"Hmmm. While the idea is good, I don't know how I feel about slaughtering 100,000 people to prove a point." Touch-Me was the first to object to this idea. Though he had no qualms about killing those who deserved it, deaths that could be avoided were another matter entirely.
"I agree Touch-san. Killing 100,000 people wouldn't be a good idea." The entire room instantly focused their gazes on the source of this agreement. To the unilateral surprise of everyone, it was actually Ulbert who found himself agreeing with him. This was almost unheard of.
"Really? I would have thought that you would have..."
"Killing the same amount as before wouldn't cause that much panic anymore. We need to use a spell that will kill at least double that amount! That will really teach them not to mess with us!"
And there it is... That was the sole thought running through everyone's mind.
"You're just looking for an excuse to use [Grand Catastrophe] Aren't you?" BukuBukuChagama was able to discern his intentions in the blink of an eye. It would seem that her experience with her brother had trained her in these matters.
"It would accomplish our goal of creating fear in the enemy right?"
"W-well were just speaking in hypotheticals right now anyway. We wouldn't go to such drastic means without proper justification or reason." Though Ainz did not care if they did or didn't, it would be best to hold off. As long as there were people who disliked the idea, going through with it would create friction between them.
"Then what options are left? The way I see it, they've only left us the one. We will be forced to attack them sooner or later, so wouldn't it be best for us to finish it up as quickly as possible?"
The room collectively gathered there thoughts to reflect on his statement. What would be the better option? On one hand, they may be able to accomplish their goals quicker if they set out to fight immediately, but they would have a lack of info and possible lose do to a unforeseen battle. The other path would be to gather info and then attack, which would greatly improve their success rate. But then they would risk losing to enemy counter measures, and if they really were the assailant who brainwashed Shalltear, one of them may be caught unaware and controlled.
Both sides had merits, and neither was truly wrong, but it felt like something was missing.
"What if we just did nothing at all?" The room could not help but give confusing looks towards BukuBukuChagama for those uttered words. "How is doing nothing going to help us?
"Well, since a war took place recently, its more than likely that the nations who are against us will be planning to attack us by surprise. That being the case, we should stay idle for now in Nazarick, all the while gaining information on the other countries with spies. That way we could gather information on them, and deal with them accordingly. We can turn there surprise attack into our advantage."
Everyone simply stared in silence. It was a good plan with no real demerits. Though it was shocking that such a idea could have come from her, as this was by no means her area of expertise. Leave it to the tank to provide the best defensive argument.
"That... shouldn't pose any problems and might work quite well Chagama-san. That almost sounds like something Punitto Moe would say." Touch-Me's words spoke for the group.
"I remembered something from one of our conversations, and I just applied it to our current situation. I mean, why risk our lives on something that hasn't been 100% confirmed?"
"I guess your right, but wouldn't that take a long time to accomplish.
"Ulbert-san, there is no need to rush things when we are talking about are actual lives. Plus we technically represent the sorcerer kingdom, so we may be condemned for our aggression seeing as the rest of the world is unaware of the friction between Nazarick then them."
Though the kingdom was secondary to Ainz, it was currently the only way that he and his friends could be in peace, since it was showing to the world that co-existence was possible. Choosing to be to violent could ruin all the reputation he had built so far, which may force their hand.
"I understand Momonga-san, I kind of just want the threats to be cleared out so I can do as I wish, but your right. Its rather selfish."
"Then are we all in agreement to Chagama-sans suggestion?"
"Yep"
"I'm fine with it"
"Sounds good."
With a unanimity finally being reached, They could now move forward with the next phase of their non-existent plan.
"Alright. Then that will be our plan moving forward. We will send doppelgangers to the other countries in order to gain Intel on the enemies thoughts. If something notable happens, then we we act on it. But Until then Nazarick will simply go back to hiding in the shadows. We can also possibly use them as bait. If the enemy bites, then we will be ready to strike back. Until then, continue as you were, and hone your skills for the battle that will surely take place."
Once Ainz's rallying speech had concluded, the entire group nodded as one to show they understood. Their resolutions firm.
A/N Were going to move away from the main group for now and focus on some other Supreme ones that shall descend upon the New world! Also, spring of 2021 is so close! Vol 15 where are you!
